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SEVEN 



LETTERS 



WRITTEN BY 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS, 



HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. 



EDITED BY 



W. DURRANT COOPER, F.S.A. 



L OND ON: 

PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION, 

BY T.RICHARDS, 100, ST. MARTIN'S LANE. 

1844. 



<r -/*£- ' s~S*; ^ ^^ 



^^ 






SEVEN 



LETTERS 



WRITTEN EY 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS, 

AIL 

HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. lJ 2j[ f 



EDITED BY 



W. DTJRRANT COOPER, F.S.A. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION, 
BY T.RICHARDS, 100, ST. MARTIN'S LANK. 

1844. 






\« 



** 



205449 
'15 



TO 

JOHN THOMAS WHARTON, ESQ. 

OF SKELTON CASTLE. 



My dear Wharton, 

The following letters and verses, the originals 
of which are among the family records at your castle, 
appear to be of sufficient general interest to warrant 
their preservation in a more enduring form. 

They are all from members of that distinguished 
and merry literary circle, of which your ancestor 
formed a chief connecting link ; and they are so 
characteristic of the different writers, that they are 
worthy of a place among their published works. 

The first letter, from M. Tollot, is peculiarly- 
interesting, for its detail of the disputes which agi- 
tated the little republic of Geneva, on the expulsion 
of Rousseau, after writing the " Contrat Social, 1 ' and 



" Emile ;" as well as for the insight it affords into 
the waywardness of Mrs. Sterne, which may account 
largely for the marital indifference towards her with 
which her husband has been charged. 

The two letters from Sterne are even more cha- 
racteristic than the twelve also addressed to Mr. J. 
Hall Stevenson, which have found their way into 
Sterne's collected works. " In the year thirty-two," 
says the latter, " my cousin sent me to the Uni- 
versity, where I staid some time. 'Twas there I 
commenced a friendship with Mr. H. [Hall, after- 
wards Hall Stevenson], which has been lasting on 
both sides." Rightly did Mr. H. Stevenson tell 
your uncle, in the letter of 1785, wherein he re- 
commended his grandson to pursue his studies at 
Cambridge, "it is the only time of life to make 
lasting, honourable, and useful friendships." He 
had experienced the full force of that truth. The 
friendship then formed with Sterne seems never to 
have been for one moment interrupted, and the 
letters show what confidence the author of " Tris- 
tram Shandy " reposed in his Eugenius. It is matter 
of regret that more of the correspondence between 
them has not been saved, and that the originals of 
the portion already printed are not to be found at 
Skelton ; for, from the style of the two now given, 
I strongly suspect that when Lydia Sterne published 
her father's letters, which were sent to her by his 



friends, she, out of a mistaken respect for his me- 
mory, did not give entire such passages as we meet 
with in the following. 



o" 



The troubles brought upon Horace Walpole, by 
his patronage of small authors, are graphically told 
by him; and the note and lines by "Panty" Las- 
celles are not bad specimens of the vivacity and 
smartness of a Yorkshire vicar of the good old 
school, where the clergyman was as beloved by his 
private friends for his social virtues, as he was by 
his flock for his Christian worth and universal phi- 
lanthropy. 

I am sure, my dear Wharton, that no one more 
dearly than yourself cherishes the memory of those, 
who, some eighty years since, made your castle the 
seat of mirth and cordial good will ; and that no one 
will more rejoice at the revival of anything to re- 
mind us of men, whose writings have been the 
admiration of all. 

Believe me, 

My dear Wharton, 

Ever most faithfully your's, 

WM. DURRANT COOPER. 

Bloomsbury Square, London, 
July 1844. 



CONTENTS. 



Letter from M. Tollot to John Hall Stevenson - 1 

L. Sterne to the same - - - - 8 

Same to same - - - - - 10 

Lines upon a Yorkshire lady lately married, by Panty 

Lascelles - - - - - 11 

Reply to same, by J. H. Stevenson - - - 12 

To the Duke of Dorset - - - - 13 

Letter from Horace Walpole to - - - 14 

John Hope to J. H. Stevenson - - -15 

J. H. Stevenson to John Hall - - - 16 

Panty Lascelles to John Wharton - - 18 

Notes, &c. - - - - - 21 



LETTERS, 

ETC. 



M. TOLLOT to JOHN HALL STEVENSON, Esq. 



Bourdeaux, le 8 Janvier, 1764. 
Mon cher Monsieur, 

II y a longtemps que je me propose de vous ecrire, 
mais nous ne sommes pas plutot arriver dans un endroit 
que les petits soins se succedent les uns aux autres, et 
que j'en pars presque toujours sans avoir fait ce que je 
m'etois propose. Notre voyage a ete asser long, nous ne 
pensions point quand nous quittances Londres de faire 
tant de chemin, mais quelques circonstances y ont con- 
tribue ; on persuada a M r . Thornhill que les eaux de Spa 
lui servient du bien, et la dessus il se determina a y aller, 
son frere qui avoit envie de voir du pays n'en fut pas 
fache, nous partimes de Paris en consequence ; apres un 
sejour de six semaines a Spa nous en partimes pour nous 
rendre en Suisse ou nous voulions nous arreter, pour cela 
il fallut traverser le Pays de Luxembourg, la Lorraine, 
L' Alsace et La Suisse, nous arrivames enfin a Geneve, ou 
nous avons sejourne huit a dix jours. De Geneve nous 
vimmes a Lion, de la en Provence et en Languedoc, et 
enfin a Bourdeaux ou nous sommes actuellement. Voila 
notre tournee, il est juste de vous entretenir un pen des 
petits amusemens que nous avons trouve sur la route- 
Nous partimes de Londres comme vous le sgaver avec 
Mr. Garland, et nous arrivames ensemble a Paris, il se 

B 



Z LETTERS BY 

logea dans le Fauxbourg St. Germain et nous primes des 
logemens dans le quartier St. Honore, ce qui n'empecha 
pas que nous ne nous vissions souvent, et de participer de 
temps en temps aux memes plaisirs; je me trouvai cepen- 
dant fort incommode de mes vertiges qui m'occasionnoient 
un mal etre continuel, ce qui m'empecba de m'amuser avec 
les messieurs autant que je l'aurois desire; nous partimes 
ensemble de Paris, et M r . Garland nous quitta a Bruxelles, 
a notre arrivee a Spa nous trouvames baucoup d'etrangers 
de toutes les nations, et un asser grand nombre de families 
Angloises, toutes montees sur le ceremoniel, ce qui portoit 
baucoup de froideur dans le commerce et en bannissoit les 
plaisirs; nous quittames Spa sans baucoup de regret, et 
sans avoir recu un benefice bien marque de l'usage des 
eaux ; nous vimes les villes les plus considerables qui se 
trouverent sur notre route, et a Morat M r . Thornbill prit un 
remede fameux qui ne lui fit aucun bien ; nous trouvames 
a Geneve tous nos anciens amis, avec les quels nous avons 
bu plusieurs fois a votre sante, les Pietet, les Gaussen, les 
Jaquet, tous s'empressoient a me demander de vos nouvelles, 
je leur fis des complimens de votre part et tout se termina 
la. Je trouvai la Republique fort devisee au sujet de votre 
ami Jean Jaques, dont le dernier ouvrage venoit d'etre con- 
damne, et contre le quel le conseil venoit de donner un 
decret de prise de corps, que ses partisans regardoient 
comme injurieux et comme une infraction aux droits des 
citoiens. lis s'assemblerent en corps, et entre plusieurs 
motif de plainte qu'ils alleguerent dans leur representations 
au conseil, ils avangerent que le conseil n'avoit aucun 
droit de detruire l'etat et la reputation d'un citoien sans 
s'assurer s'il etoit reellement l'auteur des livres qui por- 
toient son nom et sans l'entendre, et que jusques a ce qu'il 
aie etre interroge et entendu il ne peut etre emprisonne. 

Qu'en matiere criminelle un tribunal qui n'a pas un 
Sindic pour President n'est pas un tribunal legal. 

Que le jugement de conseil sur les livres de Mons r . 
Rousseau n'etant pas regulier et y aiant des doutes sur la 






STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 3 

valitlite da decret sur sa personne, c'etoit au Conseil Gene- 
ral a en decider ; voila a peu-pres le precis des principaux 
motifs des representations faites au conseil. 

A quoy il repondit que le decret de prise de corps contre 
Monsr . Rousseau avoit ete fonde sur des presomptions fortes 
et notnbreuses ; que ses amis ne pouvoient nier que le Coa- 
trat Social et YEmile livres dans les quels la religion et le 
gouverneraent sont livres a la plus audacieuse critique, 
n'eussent ete annoncer depuis long-temps pour etre de 
Mons r . Rousseau ; qu'ils parroissoient depuis longtemps 
sous le meme format que ses autres ouvrages; qu'ils 
etoient imprimer par le meme libraire et remplis de traits 
qui deceloient un citoien de Geneve; que Ton y re- 
trouvoit une grande conformite de principes avec les 
principes de ses ouvrages precedens ; que Ton y recon- 
noissoit la beaute et la chaleur de son style, la hardiesse 
de ses paradoxes, la licence et l'amertume de ses cen- 
sures; que le Parlement de Paris en fletrissant le livre 
d'Emile avoit decrete Mons r . Rousseau de prise de corps; 
qu'il avoit ordonne des perquisitions de sa personne, et 
que M. Rousseau en quittant la France pour s'y de- 
rober, se plaignoit de la persecution, raais ne desavouoit 
pas ces ouvrages ; que Mons 1 '. Rousseau declare par son 
silence, par sa retraite, et par la voix de toute L'Europe, 
l'auteur de ces ouvrages ne pouvoit revenir a Geneve, et y 
etre rec^u comme s'il ne l'eut pas ete ; qu'il faut faire une 
difference entre un horame condainne pour ses idees sur la 
religion, et un bomme condamne sur ses ecrits ; qu'un 
citoien ne peut etre poursuivi civilement pour ses idees 
particulieres concernant la religion, mais qu'il peut Fetre 
sur ses ecrits suivant nos loix, or il s'agit a present de 
sgavoir si le jugement du conseil contre les ouvrages de 
Mous r . Rousseau, et le decret sur sa personne sont eon- 
traires a nos loix, et c'est ce que Ton ne peut pas prouver, 
la loi etant tres clair sur ce sujet: — en gros, Ton peut dire 
que la partie la plus eclairee des citoiens s'est rangee du 
cote du conseil dans cette affaire, et pour vous en dire 



4 LETTERS BY 

mon opinion j'ai trouve que notre ami Jean Jaques que 
j'aime et que j'estime pour baucoup de bonnes choses qu'il 
a ose avancer dans ces ouvrages, ne s'est pas conduit avee 
tout l'esprit et le jugement que je l'aurois desire; en re- 
signant ses droits de citoien il a declare hautement que 
son abdication etoit sans retour ; il s'est engage par ser- 
ment a ne jamais rentrer dans sa patrie, il s'est explique 
a ce sujet avec baucoup de force, et cependant il a fo- 
mente toutes les divisions dans Geneve et y a donne 
baucoup d'embarras au conseil, d'ailleurs cette demarche 
qu'il fit aupres du Ministre de Moutier au quel il demanda 
d'etre regu publiquement a recevoir la communion, n'est 
pas une demarche qui cadre avec sa fagon de penser, je 
n'aime point ces variations dans un philosophe eclaire, et 
surtout dans un homme qui s'est explique comme il la 
fait sur la religion ; mais au reste me voila baucoup au de 
la de ce que je m'etois propose, je me suis livre au sujet qui 
est sans doutte peu interessant pour vous, et je vous en 
fais des excuses, je reviens a notre voyage. 

Nous partimes de Geneve dans l'intention de sejourner 
quelques jours a Lion, nous y trouvames Mr. Charles 
Turner et sa femme, dans la premiere visite que je leur 
rendis je trouvai notre ami M r . Huet que je pris d'abord 
pour son simulaire, mais qui me parut bientot etre en 
chair et en os surtout apres que je l'eu vu officier a table; 
nous partimes tous de Lion a peu prez le meme temps, les 
Turner et Lord Tilneypourla Provence et notre ami Huet 
pour Montpellier; nous arrivames a Marseilles avant eux 
parce qu'ils furent par eau jusques a Avignon, nous les 
trouvames tous etablis a Aix a notre passage dans cette 
ville, ou nous avons ete oblige de sejourner dix a douze 
jours a cause d'une abondance extraordinaire de neige 
qui etoit tombee et qui avoit bouchee tous les passages ; 
je puis vous assurer que je n'ai jamais essuie un froid plus 
vif et plus piquant que celui que nous eumes les deux 
derniers jours de notre sejour a Marseilles, et les premiers 
jours de notre sejour a Aix. 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 5 

Notre ami Monsr. Reigner en etoit tout consterne, et 
iljuroit que depuis vingt cinq ans il n'avoit pas vu un 
pareil temps ; nous nous en eonsolions cependant en restant 
longtemps a table, et en faisant la plus grande chere qu'il 
fut possible, sur le soir nous nous rendious au caffe, ou 
votre ami Charles faisoit des eomtes de courses de chevaux, 
de cbasse, et autres bistoires semblables qui etoient a faire 
mourir de rire, il parloit avec la meme assurance que s'il 
eut bien possede la langue franchise, et cependant il 
avouoit fort ingenuement qu'il ne se comprenoit pas lui 
meme, et c'est ce qui amusoit les auditeurs ; nous sou- 
pames la veille de notre depart cbez Mons 1 '. le Due de 
Villars Gouverneur de la* Provence ce qui fit plaisir a 
Tbornbill l'aine qui avoit envie a ce qu'il disoit de se voir 
a table avec un Due et pair de Fiance; a notre arrivee a 
Nisines nous vimes l'ampitheatre, la maison quarree et la 
funtaine, ce qui fut bien * * . 

Nous arrivames le lendemain a Montpellier ou nous 
trouvames notre ami Mr. Stern, sa femme, sa fille, Mr. 
Huet et quelques autres Angioises, j'eu je vous l'avoue 
baucoup de plaisir en revoiant le bon et agreable Tristram, 
qui me parut etre toujours a peu prez dans le meme etat 
ou je l'avois laisse a Paris, il avoit ete asser longtemps a 
Toulouse ou il se seroit amuse sans sa femme qui le pour- 
suivoit partout, et qui vouloit etre de tout, ces dispositions 
dans cette bonne dame lui out fait passer d'asser mauvais 
momens, il supporte tous ces desagreemens avec une 
patience d'ange, son intention etoit retourner en Angle* 
vtene avec sa famille, mais il paroit que ces deux dames 
veulent passer encore un an en France pour finir Miss 
Stern, pour lui il est determine a quitter Montpellier 
dans le mois de Fev Tier et de venir a Parisje l'ai baucoup 
exborte a venir nous y joindrc j'aurai soin d'avoir une 
bonne chambre pour lui dans le meme hotel ou nous 
serous, nous y aurions une bonne table ou il aura toujours 
son couvert, et s'il veut nous le ramenerons en Angleterre 
avec nous, eomrae ce parti m'a paru lui convenir, je me 



D LETTERS BY 

flalte de le voir a Paris a la fin du mois procbain, je vou- 
drois bien que vous voulussiez etre de la partie, ce seroit 
une grande augmentation de plaisir pour nous et pour lui 
et nous pourrions nous y amuser pendant deux ou trois 
mois. 

Nous quittames Montpellier aprer y avoir passe dix a 
douze jours, et nous vimmes a Toulouse ou nous times un 
petit sejour, j'y trouve L'Abbe Mackarty qui nous fut de 
quelque ressource; nous nous logeames chez Mounier, 
j'occupois votre ehambre et les Thornbill l'apparteinent de 
Lady Chapman, cela me rappella bien des choses, tout 
etoit in statu quo, a la reserve que le bon homme Mounier 
est trepasse, et que son fils et sa fille tiennent la maison. 
D'ailleurs la maison de la Comtesse Fumel est to uj ours 
montee comme de notre temps, de meme de celle de Monsr. 
deBonrepos; le President d'Orbessan donne toujours a 
manger et vit toujours avec Madame la Gorse: le vieux 
Abel et sa femme tiennent toujours leur gargotte, et Ca- 
dette est toujour errante et vagabonde quoy que mariee, si 
votre frere et le chevalier la voioient a present ils ne seroient 
surement pas amoureux d'elle, elle me fit baucoup la lour, 
et j'y repoudis en homme qui a toujours eu une sorte de 
consideration pour les agreables putains. 

Nous arrivames enfin a Bourdeaux asser fatiguer et fort 
enneuier de la route, et ou nous tachons de nous dedom- 
mager du mauvais temps que nous avons essuie. Thorn- 
hill Paine est cependant fort impatient d'arriver a Paris, 
son affaire de Londres lui tient fort a ccEur, il m'en parle 
souvent, et je ne sgai que lui en dire ne prevoiant pas qu' 
elle puisse reussir, il ma baucoup charge de vous prier 
d'en parler a Mr. Upton a fin qu' il puisse sc,avoir par 
notre moien ce qu'il a esperer ou a craindre, je lui ai pro- 
mis de le faire, et je m'acquitte de la commission ; Mr. 
Stern me dit a Montpellier qu'il trouvoit que Mr. Thorn- 
hill etoit foit change a son avantage, je le crois, mais comme 
je vis toujours avec lui, ce changement ne me frappe pas 
comme un autre. Vous m'obligerez baucoup si vous avez 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. t 

occasion de voir Mr. Upton, de lui en toucher un mot et de 
me dire naturellement ce qu'il pense de cette affaire, a fin 
quelle se finisse dune facon ou d'une autre et qu'il n'en 
soit plus question. Les messieurs vous prient d'agreer leur 
complimens. 

Nous comptons partir en trois on quatre jours, quoyque 
nous amusions asser icy, on y trouve de tout en abon- 
dence, excepte du bon vin pour moi je m'entiens au Pre- 
gnac qui convient mieux a ma sante, qui n'est pas trop 
bonne; tous ces voyages m'usent et me viellissent, et je ne 
suis nullement content de me voir a courir le monde 
comme un homme de trente ans. 

Je compte que nous arriverons a Paris vers la fin du 
mois, ou je me flatte que vous voudrer bien me dormer un 
petit signe de vie, en m'addressant clier Messieurs Selwin 
et Foley, banquiers. 

L'affaire de M r . Wilts a fait baucoup de bruit dans ces 
Provinces, et le jugement de M r . Prat a fait baucoup d'hon- 
neur a ce magistrat, tous les hommes aiment la liberte et 
tous leurs voeux y tendent, mais tous les hommes ne sont 
pas faits pour enjouir. 

Voila une lettre qua m'epouvante quand jela regarde, et 
je crains bien que vous n'aier ni la patience ni la loisir de 
la lire, mais en tout cas je vous prie de la regarder toujours 
comme une marque de mon amitie et de mon attachement 
pour vous. 

Je vous prie de faire agreer mes honneurs a Messieurs 
vos freres et a nos amis Messrs. Garland et Gilbert quand 
vous aurer occasion de les voir. 

Mille bons jours mon cher Monsieur et croiez moi de 
cceur le plus affectionne de vos serviteurs. 

TOLLOT. 

To John Hall Stevenson, Esq., in John Street, near 
Charles Street, Barkley Square, London. Angleterre. 



O LETTERS BY 

L. STERNE TO J. H. STEVENSON. 

Paris, May 19, 1764. 
My dear Cosin, 

We have been talking and projecting about setting out 
from this city of seductions every day this month, so that 
allowing me three weeks to ruminate upon y 1 ' Letter, and 
this Month pasd in Projections, and some other things 
of the same termination, I account for this sin of omission 
to you, without pretending to excuse it — ' God, be merciful 
to me a sinner'' — or sometimes, dear Sir, or dear Madame, 
be merciful, &c. (just as the case happens) is all I have 
gen ll 7 to say for what I do, and what I do not: all 
which being premised, I have been for eight weeks smitten 
with the tenderest passion that ever tender wight under- 
went. I wish, dear cosin, thou couldest concieve (perhaps 
thou can'st without my wishing it) how deliciously I can- 
ter'd away with it the first month, two up, two down, always 
upon my hanches along the streets from my hotel to hers, 
at first, once — then twice, then three times a day, till at 
length I was within an ace of setting up my hobby horse 
in her stable for good an all. I might as well consi- 
dering how the enemies of the Lord have blasphemed 
thereupon ; the last three weeks we were every hour upon 
the doleful ditty of parting — and thou mayest concieve, 
dear cosin, how it alter'd my gaite and air — for I went and 
came like any louden'd carl, and did nothing but mix tears, 
and Jouer des sentiments with her from sun-rising even to 
the setting of the same ; and now she is gone to the South 
of France, and to finish the comedie, I fell ill, and broke a 
vessel in my lungs and half bled to death. Voila mon 
Histoire \l We are now setting out without let or hin- 
drance and shall be in London ye 29th, Dijs, Deabusque 
volentibus. Tollot sends a thousand kind greetings along 
with those of our family, to you, he has had a very bad 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 9 

spring of it, from a scoundril relaxation of bis nervous sys- 
tem, w ch had God sent us warmer weather, he would 
have recover'd more speedily — his journey w^ its change 
of air, will I hope sett him up ; why may not we all meet 
for a fortnight at Scarborugh this summer ? I wish you 
would say you would, and I would settle the party, before 
I leave London : write a line to us at ThornmTs, where 
I shall be whilst in town. We want sadly to see y 
preachment — the report from me, made y r hero an inch 
higher — I see him every day, and without much, or indeed 
any precaution ; for he visits and is visited by the English 
of all persuasion — as well by In's as Out's : you will scarse 
believe I dined with him and Lord Tavistoc, t'other day, 
and with Lord Beauchamp, our ambassador's son and him 
&c, three days ago. He is eternally joyous and jockun- 
diss m . ; and I think to a greater degree, than in those days 
when had more occasion. I pity him from my soul : He 
talks of decamping from hence to sojourn in Italy, as soon 
as the take of his hotel is expired, w ch was for a year ; I 
think Italy is not the place for him — but he has reasons 
\\ ch I see not. On Thursday morning we set out from 
foutre-land, tho' we ought not to abuse it — for we have 
lived (shag rag and bobtail), all of us, a most jolly nonsen- 
sical life of it, and so dear cosin Antony adieu, in full hopes 
on my side, that I shall spend many still more joyous deli- 
riums with you over many a pint of Burgundy — so be it. 

Y*. affect 1 *. Cosin, 

L. Steene. 
To 

John Hall Stevensson, Esq 1-e . 
at Skelton Castle, 
near Guisbro', 

Yorkshire. 
Ansdeterre. 



10 LETTERS BY 



L. STERNE to JOHN HALL STEVENSON. 



Coxwould, Dec. 17, 1766. 

My dear Cosin, 

I consider thee as a bank-note in a comer drawr of 
my bureau — I know it is there (I wish I did) — and its 
value, tho' I seldome take a peep at it — if a comparison 
will excuse my idlenesses and neglects of all kind to thee — 
so be it — though I must take further shame, and own I 
had not wrote now, but that I profited by the transit of a 
Craselite, by my door, of whom I have learn'd all welcome 
acc ts . of thee — that thou farest well — and art good liking 
— for my own part I have had my menses thrice this 
month, which is twice too often— and am not altogether 
according to my feelings, by being so much, which I 
cannot avoid, at Lord F — - s [Falconbridge] who oppress 
me to death with civility.— So Tristram goes on busily — 
what I can find appetite to write, is so so. — You never read 
such a chapter of evils from me — I'm tormented to death 
and the devil, by my Stillington Inclosure, — and am every 
hour threatened with a journey to Avignon, where Mrs. 
Sterne is very bad — and by a series of Letters I've got from 
Lydia, I suppose is going the way of us all. 

I want to know from yourself how you do — and you 
go on. — I mean allum — full gladly would I see you — but 
whilst I'm tied neck and heels as I am — 'tis impracticable. 
— Remember me sometimes in y r . potations — bid Panty 
pray for me, when he prays for the Holy Catholic Church 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 11 

—present my compliments to Mrs. Ferguson— and be in 
peace and charity with all mankind 
and the blessing of God the Father 
Son 
& 
holy ghost be with you 

Amen L Sterne, 

P.S. Greet Hales — and his houshold. 

To J. Hall Stevenson, Esq re . 

Skelton Castle, 

near 

Guisbro'. 



UPON A YORKSHIRE LADY LATELY MARRY'D. 

BY THE REV. ROBT. (PANTY) LASCELLES. 



Ah ! Dido infelix Ebrio male nupta Marito 
Cur circumvolutas brachia charaToro? 

Nil amplectares nisi siccum & inutile lignum 
Exhaustas fontes. Optima Dido fugit. 

Ah ! Dido poor unhappy creature 

Wed to the veriest sot in nature, 
Cans't thou disclose thy softest charms 

Encircl'd in a looby's arms ? 
Sure marriage rites am* come to this, 

A senseless log can't give thee bliss, 
By whom thou ne'er can be caress'd, 

Whilst we in Bumpers drink the best. 



12 LETTERS BY 

To which Mr. J. H. Stevenson replied : — 

" Desine meque tuis incendere, teq ; querelis." 

Virg. M 

Quid mens tineas in vos commisit ut ilium 

Falso exprobratis ? Me mea facta juvant, 
Conjuge sum felix ; non estu gratior AURA 

Fons est perpetuus plenus amore mei. 
NOBILIS, en ! quanto modulans sub tegmine fagi, 

Exuperat CORVUM trista crocitat, 
Tanto precellit ! Pro vobis ca3tera sunto 

Jurgia, sic vixas claudite quisq ; suas. 

Why do ye rail at iEneas my swain 

I wonder ye can, 
I find myself bless' d and cannot complain, 

I love the dear man. 
No GALE is more pleasant in summer or heat, 
Nor Tityus musick in Virgil so sweet, 
A fountain of pleasure and joy in retreat, 

This, this is the man. 
The CROWE won't pretend to musick so sweet 

No more than the Swan ; 
But to crown all my joys and make them complete 

£1500 per ann : 
Some faults you have mentioned, but none I can find, 
Take them to yourselves, I'm not of your mind, 
I want not your pity, he's loving and kind, 

Still, still he's the man. 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 13 



TO THE DUKE OF DORSET. 



]f virtues at his noble hands you crave, 

You bid him raise his Fathers from the grave. 

Men should press forward in Fame's glorious chace, 

Nobles look backward and so lose the race. 

Let high birth triumph ! What can be more great ? 

Nothing — but merit in a low estate. 

To Virtue's humblest son let none prefer 

Vice, tho' descended from the Conquerer. 

Shall men, like figures, pass for high, or base, 

Slight or important, only by their place ? 

Titles are works of honest men, and wise ; 

The fool or I nave, that wears a title, lies. 

They that on glorious ancestors inlarge, 

Produce their debt instead of their discharge. 

Dorset, let those who proudly boast their line, 

Like thee, in worth hereditary shine. 

Of Folly, Vice, Disease, men proud we see ! 

And (stranger still) of blockhead's flattery, 

Whose praise defames ; as if a fool should mean 

By spitting on your face to make it clean. 

Such fulsome authors rise in these our days, 

They satyrize with nothing — but their praise. 



a 



14 LETTERS BY 



H. WALPOLE to- 



Dear Sir, 

I return you Mr. Hall's verses, which I was forced to 
take into the country with me, as I had not time to read 
them over carefully in town. They entertained me ex- 
tremely, as Mr. Hall's works always do. He has a vast 
deal of original humour and wit, and nobody admires him 
more than I do. I shoud wish he woud change the words 
Strawberry Hill for the title of any convent or abbey, 
because it would send a great many impertinent people to 
inquire after the supposed MS., and I am so tired with 
curious fools, that I should be seriously sorry to be troubled 
with more. They woud really believe I had some old 
MSS., and woud want to see them ; and I shoud be forced 
to deny it, which woud look as if I disavowed a knowledge 
of the poems, and that woud have an air of disliking the 
works of an author for whom I have so much regard and 
esteem. I beg you will assure Mr. Hall how much I think 
myself honoured by his notice and communication. If all 
authors had as much parts and good sense as he has, I 
shoud not be so sick of them as I am. My own follies 
have drawn them upon me, or what is worse, to me ; and 
as I wish to be quiet and no more in question, it will be a 
real obligation, if he will be so good as to omit Strawberry 
Hill, where As works will always be most welcome, and 
whither I am sure he woud be sorry to send me fools he 
justly despises. 

I am, dear Sir, 

Yrs. most sincerely, 

H. Walpole. 

P.S. I hope your leg is better, and that you take more 
care of it. 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 15 



JOHN HOPE to J. H. STEVENSON. 









Newcastle, 23rd April, 1783. 
Dear Sir, 

I was happy to learn that instead of being by sick- 
ness, disabled for finishing the story you promised me, you 
had been in such good spirits as to compose a whole collec- 
tion of tales, for the entertainment of the public. If I am 
not witty myself, I am glad to see I am possessed of so 
much of FalstarPs excellence as to be the cause of wit in 
other people. In that idea I send you one of some little 
political essays, which I published in Slack's Newcastle 
Paper, as it may perhaps spur you on to give us some more 
"Fables to grown Gentlemen." The temptation to it is very 
great at present. Both parties have lost themselves so 
much in the opinion of their friends by their sudden coali- 
tion, that I should not be surprised if the King's friends 
should worm them out again before the end of another 
session. It is one of those things that shock the common 
sense of mankind, and, though by arguments you may 
puzzle their reason about it, you will never be able to con- 
vince them that it is a right measure. I have not been 
able to congratulate my Lord Fitzwilliam upon it. I wish 
you would in a joking manner tell Sir Thomas Dundas to 
put him in mind of me — you may say it is a debt the said 
Sir Thomas owes me, for if he had not taken in hand to 
support my opponent in parliament, I should not have lost 
my seat and the friendship of my uncle. These things are 
often said better over a bottle than in a formal application, 
yet I shall write him myself not to be wanting in attention. 
I have bespoke the Moral Tales, but I shall keep them 
unbound as I have your former publications, till I see 
(provided I live to see it) how many volumes you will yet 



16 LETTERS BY 

publish, for the pleasure of scribbling you may have found 
to be like the pleasure of kissing, not to be abandon'd but 
for want of ammunition ; and I hope you may have yet a 
good store for both. 

As I cannot conclude with a better wish, I remain, 
Your obliged and affectionate servant, 
John Hope. 
To John Hall Stevenson, Esq. 
3, Berkley Street, 
London. 



JOHN HALL STEVENSON to JOHN HALL. 



Skelton, Feby. ye 17th, 1785. 
Dear Grandson, 

I received ye pleasure of y r . letter, and before I 
mention anything else, I must take y e liberty to give you 
my sincere advise in relation to y e plan you have lay'd 
down for yourself in the contents. I take it for granted 
yt. you have no serious intention of making a profession of 
y e law, in yr case I see neither necessity nor eligibility in 
your choice of y e temple either for gaining a competent 
knowledge of y e law or for any of y e pursuits in life 
worthy of y r attainment or ambition : on y 8 contrary I find 
many inconveniencies in y e locality itself. Most of y e 
people bred there are either professional men or young 
people of neither figure nor consequence, but are sent 
thither merely because they do not know how to dispose of 
them with so little trouble and expence — but there is 
another very material objection with regard to you which 
I hope you will take from me in good part, and as it is 
meant. All y* friends here hope that you will endeavour 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. IT 

to divest yourself of your early prepossessions in favour of 
y r native country, as England must become the future seat 
of you and yours. Y e society of y 1 ' countrymen, who 
abound at y e Temple and who are only temporary guests, 
is not calculated to remove those impressions. 

I should therefore recommend Cambridge as a place 
infinitely preferable to ye Temple, and particularly on 
account of y e connexions you may form with young gen- 
tlemen of y r oven, aye of y e first rank, men y* you must 
live with hereafter : it is the only time of life to make 
lasting, honourable, and useful friendships. These ad- 
vantages were lost to me and blasted by premature mar- 
riage, y e scantiness of my fortune forced me to vegetate in 
y e country, and precluded me from every laudable pursuit 
suggested by ambition. To this very cause however you 
are endebted for a situation that will enable you to give a 
full career to both. The progress you have already made 
will give you a superiority amongst y« young men of 
fashion at Cambridge, which may create a future influence 
which may be serviceable to them as well as to youiself. 
The civil law is taught in no other place than at Cam- 
bridge or Oxford, which ought to go hand in hand with y e 
study of y e English laws, and there are other branches of 
academical learning for those that have a turn for them, in 
which y e professors at Cambridge are confessedly supe- 
riour to every other university perhaps in Europe. You 
will observe too y t y e same income, which will do for y e 
Temple but which will only serve you to associate with 
very middling company in London, is sufficient for y e first 
at Cambridge. If this meets with y 1 ' approbation, it will 
make me very happy : if it does not I have discharged my 
duty. 

Mrs. Wharton was supposed to be in earnest when she 
threaten'd lately to leave ye world to itself, but she has 
repented again. I am glad y 1 ' father did not repeat his 
fruitless labours : my intention was, if she had kept her 
engagement, to have desired Mr. Mauleverer to go with 

D 



18 LETTERS BY 

any second person to my wife, and in her presence to put 
a seal upon all locks, and deliver y e keys to her. 

Our weather continues much ye same as it was last year 
when you were over. I have been obliged to raise a con- 
siderable sum, no less than £2000 to pay my brother who 
has a mortgage upon y e estate in y e schedule of ye set- 
tlement : which will I doubt clip my wings and hinder my 
flight to town this year, or at least my stay can be only for 
a short time, but I rather think I shall not go at all unless 
it was to meet you at Cambridge or go with you thither. I 
beg my love to y e family, 

And am, Dr. Grandson, y r ever affectionate 

J. H. S. 
John Hall, Esqi' e . 
Dominick-street, No. 54, 
Dublin, 
Ireland. 



REV. ROBERT (PANTY) LASCELLES 
To JOHN WHARTON. 



Gilling,Aug. 13,1801. 

Brother Fisher, — I find the ladies who belong to Crazy 
Castle are pretty fisher-women, and therefore I send you 
a fishing song, which is an invitation to the fishing grotto, 
near Ringwood in Hampshire, belonging to Harry Comp- 
ton of Bistern, where Sir Charles Sedley, &c. us'd to meet 
for trout fishing, &c. and us'd to revel there, and sing old 
rose and burn the bellows. 
The tune is the same as — 



STERNE AND HIS FRIENDS. 19 

" Welcome, welcome, brother debtor 

To this poor but merry place, 

Where no frightful dun or settler 

Dare to shew his hated face." 

FIRST VERSE. 

Welcome, welcome, brother fisher 

To this cool and merry place, 
Where you've every thing- you wish, sir, 

And a Parson to say grace.* 
But, kind sir, as you're a stranger 

To the house, I'll show the way, 
Where you'll fish secure from danger, 

And may either fish or play. 

SECOND. 

Never grieve at your confinement, 

Though the fish refuse to rise, 
Wisdom lies in true resignment, 

Though they'll take not baits or fiys. 
Fortune varies like the season, 

No less fickle than the sea, 
Kings and Princes, for that reason, 

Meet rebuffs as well as we. 



Though the wind and weather's spiteful 

And confine the fishers here, 
You will find the place delightful, 

When you've tasted the good cheer. 
With mirth, and true and honest fellows, 

Whom distress has brought together, 
Sing old rose and burn the bellows, 

In defiance of all weather. 

* The parson of the parish, a great fisherman. 



20 LETTEKS BY 



What made Phillip's son* undaunted, 

Curse the world and storm and rave 
'Twas because he Patience wanted, 

Which all true horn fishers have. 
Patience is the fisher's motto, 

Make the most of life you may : 
Drink the Master of the Grotto, 

And success another day. 

I wish I was with you, with a rod in my hand, and a 
float, and minnow tackle by the side of your canal, and 
catching trout, and pearch, and pike. The great shooters 
my Cur — , Willy and General Atkinson and Heslop are to 
take the field at Gales on Wednesday at sunrise and ex- 
pect great sport. Partridges and hares abound and phea- 
sants are expected to be a good crop. I heard from the 
General at Wratling to-day where they are busy with 
singing Tantarara, Trout Hall, Trout Hall and doing great 
honour to Paddy Andrew as a fisher and hunter and a 
dealer in guttle. Your brother joins in blessings to you all 
at and about Skelton, &c. 

and I am, as usual, 

Your affectionate Friend, 
Rob t - Lascelles. 

Let us hear how you fare. This country is all alive with 
hurraing and bumpering to the honour and glory of the 
Duke of Thunder, as they call him, for his scourging 
Buff Bonaparte and co. at Boulogne, &c. 

John Wharton, Esqre. 
Skelton Castle, 

Gisborugh, 

Northallerton. 

* Alexander the Great. 



NOTES. 



Page 1, line 1. — I have throughout all the letters pre- 
served the orthography of the originals. 

P. I, 1. 27. — Mr. Garland.] This gentleman is men- 
tioned more than once in Sterne's letters. . 

ecu ff% <*/%%. 

P. 4, 1. 21. — Charles Turner,'] of Kirkl aungt s rr ; a great 
sportsman, but somewhat brusque in his manner In a 
letter to Mr. Stevenson, he refers to a charge of having said 
that he hated him, and that he remembered poor Tristram's 
solution of the declaration, " he knoivs he hates you and so 
concludes you must hate him ;" and he adds, " I must ac- 
knowledge (for many of my friends have told me so) that 
I am sometimes wanting in civility, when it happens I am 
really sorry for it, it is unmeant ; probably to avoid that 
damned dull old fashioned deceitful ceremony, I run into 
the other extreme." He aspired to the representation of 
the county, and having declined any other seat, he says, 
" I can look back with pleasure on my determination, for 
I never had a parliamentary view but for the service of the 
public, and I then did as I now would join any set of men 
to render real service to my country, nullius addictus in 
verba jurare magistri the cursed system of destroying the 
rights of electors, who thereby prostituted the sacred name 
of Whig. I saw this early in life — I no sooner saw than 
I opposed with all the poor abilities I had — I refused all 
support or glory through so snakish a labyrinth." 

P. 5, 1. 17.-* * ] The word is torn from the MS. 

P. 5, 1. 27.—tJl_supporte tous ces agreements avec une 
patience d'ange.] In another letter to Mr. Stevenson, 
dated Paris, 4 April, 1702, M. Tollot speaks of Sterne's 
equanimity of temper. After stating that the wind and the 
rain were so violent that he was obliged to betake himself 



22 NOTES. 

to divers glasses of Bourdeaux, to make himself gay, he 
adds : " Cela me fait envier quelques fois les heureuses 
dispositions de notre ami M r . Sterne ; tons les objects sont 
couleur de rose pour cet heureux mortel, et ce qui se pre- 
sente aux yeux des autres sous un aspect triste et lugubre, 
prende aux siens une face gaye et riante, il ne poursuit que 
le plaisir, et il ne fait pas comrae d'autres qui quand ils 
l'ont atteint ne scavent pas le plus souvent enjouir, pour 
lui il boit le bole jusques a la dernierre goutte et encore 
n'y a t'il pas moien de le desalterer." 

P. 5, 1. 30. — II paroit que ces deux dames veulent passer 
encore un an en France.'] In his letter to Mr. Foley, dated 
from Montpellier, 20 Jan. 1764, Sterne says: " My wife 
returns to Toulouse and purposes t spend the summer at 
Bagnieres — I on the contrary go and visit my wife, the 
church, in Yorkshire. We all live the longer, at least the 
happier for having things our own way, this is my conjugal 
maxim — I own 'tis not the best of maxims — but I main- 
tain 'tis not the worst." And in his letter to his daughter, 
from Paris, dated 15th May 1764, he says: " By this time 
I suppose your mother and self are fixed at Montauban." 

P. 8, 1. 29. -r- 1 fell ill and broke a vessel in my lungs.] 
This was the revival of an old grievance. Writing from 
Toulouse on 12th Aug. 1762, to Mr. Stevenson, he said : 
" About a week or ten days before my wife arrived at Paris, 
I had the same accident I had at Cambridge, of breaking 
a vessel in my lungs." 

P. 9, 1. 4. — Why may ive not all meet at Scarborugh this 
summer.'] He went alone to Scarborough in the September 
following. 

P. 9, 1. 1 0. — / see him every day.] This refers to Lawson 
Trotter, the uncle of Mr. Stevenson, by the mother's side, 
who was a noted Jacobite, and, on account of his political 
opinions, had been obliged to seek safety in France, after 
the disasterous issue of the rebellion of 1745. Skelton 
castle, which had belonged to the Bruces, descended by 
marriage to the Lord Falconberges, and then to the Lord 
Conyers. On the death of John Lord Conyers, in 1557, 
the estate cams to his three daughters, as co-heiresses. 
Their descendants had a grievous family feud, and the 
castle and estate were partitioned by writ, 23d May, 35 Eliz. 
Upon that writ there was allotted to Robert Trotter the one 






NOTES. 23 

third, which had been derived from the eldest daughter, 
who had married Anthony Kempe; subsequently the 
Trotters purchased the other two thirds from the D'Arcys, 
in whom they had become vested. The estate remained 
in the Trotters till the flight of Lawson Trotter, in 1745, 
when the castle &c. passed to his youngest sister, Catherine, 
who had married Joseph Hall ; in the members of that 
family, who have since changed the name to Wharton, it 
still continues. The friendly intercourse between the 
Whigs and the Jacobites living abroad, is confirmed by 
this letter of Sterne. 

P. 9, 1. 24. — Dear cosin Antony.'] This was the title 
given by Mr. Stevenson to himself, in his own tales. 

P. 10, 1. 9. — / profited by the transit of a crazelite.~\ 
Mr. Stevenson had called Skelton Castle Crazy Castle, and 
his tales " Crazy Tales," in the prologue of which he says, 

" There is a castle in the north, 
Seated upon a swampy clay, 
At present but of little worth ; 

In former times it had its day : 
This ancient castle is called Crazy." 

P. 10, 1. 15. — Lord F.] Lord Falconbridge was the 
patron, who had, in 1760, presented Sterne to the curacy 
of Cox would. 

P. 10, 1. 24. — / mean allum.~\ Allum works were carried 
on near Skelton, and are still at work, on Sir Robert 
Dundas' estate, near Lofthouse. 

P. 11, 1. I. — Present my compliments to Mrs. Ferguson.] 
This was " my witty widow," to whom Sterne addressed 
letter No. xn in those already published. 

P. 13, 1. I.— To the Duke of Dorset.] I. doubt whether 
these lines have not been before printed, but cannot put 
my hand on them ; they are from a MS. in Mr. Stevenson's 
handwriting. 

P. 20, 1. 18.— Singing Tantarara, Trout Hall, Trout 
Hall.] This alludes to some fishing verses in praise of 
the Skelton fishers, written by Mr. Lascelles, and already 
printed. 



THE END. 



LBJl'15 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





014 153 241 8 



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i '*ilfiAa.:.iULiL 



